The United States Navy undertook an all-new endeavor in the late 1930s to built a PT force from scratch. With the rise of Hitler in Germany, Mussolini in Italy, Stalin in Russia and Japanese naval expansion in the Pacific - war seemed all but inevitable. The USN sought vessels that would be much smaller in dimensions than her typical steel-hulled watercraft and field high speeds on the seas and carry a standardized weapons arrangement to include 4 x 533mm torpedoes. The primary role of the vessel would be in countering larger ships than herself through this inherent firepower and speed and be classified as "motorized torpedo boats" by their very nature. Elements of the Japanese Navy attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941 and officially thrust the United States into war. At the time of the attacks, only some of the early ELCO PT boats were in service. Naturally, development and production soon ramped up to meet wartime demand.
Results of this testing proved more promising and it was the Huckins design that actually caught the attention of many. However, USN representatives were impressed enough with all of the submissions that three procurement contracts were handed to ELCO, Higgins and Huckins. ELCO would eventually produce 326 PT boats while Higgins was commissioned for 199 examples. Huckins, despite their impressive showing in the trials, was requested to produce just 18 examples of their fine boat. Regardless, history would show the Huckins boats as excellent designs and the crews that were lucky enough to be assigned the class would have nothing but glowing praises for the series.
All Huckins boats were designed, developed and manufactured by the Huckins Yacht Corporation and even their Quadraconic Hull construction was shared (via licensing) to the other PT boat developers during the war. Additionally, the robust laminated hull appearing in both ELCO and Higgins PT boats were also from Huckins. Before the war, Huckins made a name for itself in the construction of high-end yacht designs which providing the company with the know-how to produce fast, open water vessels. The 18 examples that the company was commissioned to build for the United States Navy during World War 2 made up two full squadrons and all were of the 78-foot variety (unlike ELCOs which came in a variety of notable hull lengths). Huckins boat squadrons were made active in 1943.
Dimensionally, all of the Huckins boats measured a running length of 78 feet with a beam of 19.5 feet and a draft of 5 feet. The minimal draught was of note for it allowed the PT boat to excel in shallow water operations where larger warships could not. As the Japanese military began to rely on barges to resupply cut-off units in the Pacific island campaign, USN PT boats were sent in to counter while the main force moved on ahead. Huckins boats operated at a listed weight of 40 tons and power was supplied by an arrangement of 3 x Packard marine gasoline-fueled engines developing 1,350 horsepower each. These engines maintained origins in the original US Army "Liberty" bomber aircraft engine of 1925 though modified for high-speed boating since. The first generation of Packard PT engines became the 3M-2500 and this was progressively updated to become the 4M-2500 and the final 5M-2500 by war's end. Huckins PT boats enjoyed a top speed of 42 knots, their unique hulls making them excellent performing vessels - even in rough waters.
Design of Huckins boats were saw their cockpit/cabin superstructures set at amidships (more similar in profile to the ELCO than the Higgins design which saw a well-forward cockpit). There was a long bow deck with a standard life raft fitted and torpedo tubes were mounted as inline pairs with two torpedo launchers to each vessel side - angled to launch outboard of hull centerline. Self-defense armament included 4 x 0.50 caliber Browning air-cooled heavy machine guns in two twin turret mountings at amidships. At the stern, a surface cannon was installed and offered excellent field of fire. Depth charge dispensers could be seen along the rear sides of the vessel in sets of four. A typical Huckins boat crew was 11 personnel including two officers.
Note: The above text is EXCLUSIVE to the site www.MilitaryFactory.com. It is the product of many hours of research and work made possible with the help of contributors, veterans, insiders, and topic specialists. If you happen upon this text anywhere else on the internet or in print, please let us know at MilitaryFactory AT gmail DOT com so that we may take appropriate action against the offender / offending site and continue to protect this original work.
4 x 21-inch (533mm) torpedo tubes for 4 x Mark 8/13 torpedoes, launchers arranged as inline pairs along port and starboard sides.
1 x 37mm OR BOFORS 40mm Dual-Purpose cannon fitted on forecastle.
1 x 20mm Oerlikon anti-aircraft cannon at stern
4 x 0.50 caliber (12.7mm) anti-aircraft, air-cooled heavy machine guns in dual mounts (2x2), one emplacement amidships and one forward, offset to starboard.
Optional 0.30 caliber machine guns, mortar launchers, rocket projectors and additional 20mm cannons (and captured 23mm anti-tank guns) as required/available.
None.
Images
1 / 1
Front portside view of an incoming Huckins PT Boat at speed
The "Military Factory" name and MilitaryFactory.com logo are registered ® U.S. trademarks protected by all applicable domestic and international intellectual property laws. All written content, illustrations, and photography are unique to this website (unless where indicated) and not for reuse/reproduction in any form. Material presented throughout this website is for historical and entertainment value only and should not to be construed as usable for hardware restoration, maintenance, or general operation. We do not sell any of the items showcased on this site. Please direct all other inquiries to militaryfactory AT gmail.com. No A.I. was used in the generation of this content; site is 100% curated by humans.
